I feel sick. Physically, genuinely sick like I might have to excuse myself and find a bathroom.
“How long do you have?” My voice sounds strange. Deeper and sharp, like I’m trying to close a business deal. “If she accepts admission, when is the first payment due?”
“Fall. August, technically, but there are deposits before that. She’ll lose her spot in April.”
“Tell her to accept.”
Anne blinks. “I’m sorry?”
“Tell Joy to accept. I’ll get the money.”
“Taio—”
“I mean it. The hundred thousand, the full year—I’ll get it.” I’m talking too fast, making promises I have no idea how to keep, but I can’t stop. “Just tell her to accept. I’ll figure it out.”
Anne stares at me like I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have.
“Sweetheart.” Her voice is gentle, careful, the way you’d talk to someone standing on a ledge. “That’s very kind, but…do you have any idea what you’re saying? A hundred thousand dollars by fall? On top of everything else you’re trying to do?”
“I’ll find a way.”
“How? And please don’t tell me it’s from this mystery job you won’t explain.” She gestures at the envelope still sitting between us. “You just handed me five thousand dollars like it was nothing. That’s not nothing, Taio. That’s months of work for most people. What are you doing?”
“I told you, I can’t?—”
“I’m asking because I’m worried about you.” Her voice cracks slightly. “Do you understand that? I’m not angry, I’m not judging you, I’mworried. You look exhausted. You’re sitting here promising me a hundred thousand dollars like you’re going to pull it out of thin air, and I don’t—” She presses her fingers to her lips for a moment. “I don’t want you to sacrifice yourself for us. That’s not what I want. That’s not what anyone wants.”
I don’t know what to say. The champagne has gone flat in my glass. The string quartet has shifted to something so soft, it’s almost mournful.
“Is this what you’re going to do with your life?” Anne asks, and there’s no judgment in her tone, only sadness. “Spend it trying to fix your father’s mistakes? Because I have to tell you, sweetheart—what he took from people, it’s in the millions. Tens of millions. You could work yourself to death and never make a dent.”
“I know I can’t pay everyone back.” My voice is rougher than I intend. “But I’m starting with you. The people who mattered most. The people who were our friends.”
“And then what? What happens when you’ve ruined your health, your future, your chance at a real life—and there’s still more debt to pay?” The way she keeps bringing up my health, I know Anne thinks I’m running drugs. I wonder, if I told her I’m an escort, if that’s better or worse than what she’s imagining.
“I don’t know.” I stare at the table. “I’m just trying to take it piece by piece. That’s all I can do.”
Anne is quiet for a long moment. When she speaks again, her voice is different. Softer. She holds my gaze, bracing me for something.
“Alaina is engaged.”
The words hit me like a rogue homerun ball straight to the chest. I feel my face freeze, while my whole body goes rigid as I process what she just said. Engaged. Alaina.My Alaina.Except she’s not mine, and hasn’t been for three years.
“Congratulations.” It comes out mechanical. “To the whole family. That’s…that’s great news.”
“Taio.”
“Who’s the guy?”
“His name is Bradley. He works in tech—something with apps, I don’t fully understand it. He’s nice. Stable.” Anne hesitates. “Safe.”
Safe. Unlike me. Unlike the son of a thief.
“That’s good.” I force my mouth into something resembling a smile. “That’s really good. She deserves to be happy. The Plaza, right?”
The Plaza.I remember Alaina talking about it on our third date—how she’d walked past it as a kid and decided right then that’s where she’d get married someday. I’d filed it away, the way you do when you’re young and in love and convinced you’ll be the one standing next to her at that altar.
“We haven’t gotten that far,” Anne continues quietly. “We’re still waiting for the dust to settle... Money and such.”
